Machines don’t run without people

There was a time when people speculated that machines would eventually rule the world, but I think it’s been pretty well established that machines need people. We might all become slaves to our automated infrastructure, but we will still rule the world. Case in point, two parking meters in the city of Hudson, NY, broke down earlier this year and nobody fixed them. According to the Register-Star, the result was huge revenue loss.

While receipts at the Front Street lot, $92,145, are at 58 percent of what was budgeted for this year, $160,000, City Treasurer Heather Campbell said, they are only at 42 percent of what was budgeted for 2013, $217,279, and she assumes the lower number is because of the machines.

Initially, there was some indecision about who would fix the machines and where the money would come from to fix them. That delay left the meters broken long enough to cost the city some serious cash. The machines have been repaired now. It was reported that one needed a new motherboard and both needed new modems. The repair cost was $3,000.